Metal filing case



S. C. HUFFMAN METAL FILING CASE Filed'Sept. 21, 1923 5. 6. fiuFr/vA/v INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYJ 1 Patented Feb al fi, 1956. I v

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PATIENT. VQFFIZCIQJ Application fled w s, :1, was. arm in. 004,004.

To all tahom it my concern:

Be itknown that I, SAMUEL C. Hprrnax, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'L-incoln, in the county of Lancaster. and

State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Filing Cases, of which the following is a spanfication. I

My invention relates to metal fihng'cases of the kind known-to the trade as transfer cases.' The object of my invention is the provision of afiling case which is dust and vermin proof and which is so constructed .that a number of the cases may be stacked and locked together iwith the minimum of effort, both the unit and the stack bein exceedingly rug ed in construction and urable in use. furthermore provide a base section which is ada ted to be secured to the lowermost unit 0 the stack, and which is provided with silent domes which. strengthen the structure and on which the stack may be moved about'on the floor.

Havin in view these objects and others which will ap ear in the description, I will now refer to t e drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a stack of three units secured together and secured also to the base section,

,Figure 2 is a view in pers ective of the front portion of one of t e units, the

drawer being omitted to show the ribbed construction of the walls and bottom-of the unit.

Figure 3 is a view in perspective. of the base section, the front being tilted up to show the structure of the bottom side.

' ably Figure 4; is a sectional view of the corner portions of two of the units, 'showmgparticularly the manner in which the connector and the connector rod engage the units.

Figure 5 is 'a perspective viewof the conspace the-drawers from the sides and pre- .7... bin din The unit iscompleted by so curing to t a front and rear edges reslpectively the channel iron rectangles 12 an These rectangles may be-secured to the unit in any desired manner, but in such a way that they will be flush with the front and rear edges.

stacked I provide the connector shown inv Figures 4 and 5. Theconnector 14 is made from .a piece of metal. whose width is substantiall equal to" the width of the groove "in the c annel iron and whose thickness is substantially e ual to the depth of the For joining the units when they are I groove in the c annel iron. At each. end of the connector is-an inwardl projecting pin 15, the connector being furt or provide with an aperture at its middle point for the reception of the connector rod 16. The vertical portions of the channel irons 12 and 13 are each provided with a pair of apertures, these apertures 15 being all at equal distances from the corners thus providing a standardized construction. I

To look two stacked units together, itis Q necessary onl to position the connectors 14.

as shown in igure .4, with the pins 15 enterlng the apertures 15', and to then join the two 0 posite connectors by means of the rod 16. uch connection is made both at the front and at the rear. After assembling, only the extreme ends bf the rod 16 will be exposed and visible, since the main ortion rests entirel concealed within the c annels of the two a utting channel irons.

I I do not desire however to restrict myself to the use of the rod 16, since it is obvious that its function can be performed by any one of several equivalent devices. Forfe'x ample, I may secure rods or wires to the inner surfaces of the connectors 14, at the same time providing the meeting ends of the rods or wires with a cam lock or a dead center lock operable from the outside. or.

I may join the air of connectors with a tension spring tightly in place.

or holding the connectors -The base section show n in Figure 3. I

This consists of a reinforced rectangular frame having the same horizontal dimensions as the unitsof the. filing case. In the construction shown, the 'base section is made u out of sheet metal into the form with si e and. end walls, the metal being turned inwardly at right angels to form the bottom. The width of the side walls 17 is were left open, this connection bein V such thatfthey meet the side walls of the bottom unit. The importance of this resides in the fact when the room is being swept or mopped, no dust or other foreign matter will enter as it would if the spice re atively near the floor. The front an back walls 18 are reinforced by means of the channel irons 19, the ends of the channel irons bei bent downwardly against the sidewalls 1 and flush with the corners of the base section. The channel irons 12 and 13 of the bottom unit will of course rest on the channel irons 19 of the base section, so

that the ends as .well asthe sides are closed i at the jointbottomunit and the base section, and as shown in Figure 1.

The bottom of the base section is preferably left open except at the margin where the front and side walls are lapped under. At several points in this marginal bottom, preferably near the corners, are silent domes 20.- These are preferably 111 the form of a spherical section and are pressed directly into the marginal bottom so as to project downwardly to constitute frictionless feet for the base section, as well 'asto strengthen the construction of the base section.

The drawers which I show in my drawings are standard or common construction, except that the label holders instead of bein formed out of se arate strips of metal an then secured to t e drawers, consist of ears or lugs or strips which are formed directly in the metal front of the drawer. This has several marked advantages over other forms of label holders. It saves the labor cost of securing the label holder to the drawer, It saves material, and because of this saving it is ossible to provide a relatively large label older costing no more to produce than a smaller one. The convenience and utility of large sized label holders has long been recognized, especially with transfer cases which are frequently stored in rooms which are none too li ht.

From the oregoing descri tion it will be apparent that I have provi ed a transfer case of light weight and great strength, and having means of extreme sim licity for locking the units'in stacked position. The

bottom section is useful in spacing the stack from the floor, and the silent domes both strengthen the structure and afford a superior substitute for casters; The base section is so constructed as to exclude extraneous matter when it supports a filing case or stack of filing cases. The cases because of their construction, are rugged and rigid. The connectors for locking the cases together and for locking the bottom case to the base section are simple and easily operated, and when in place on a vertical stack-of units, they make of the stack a unitary structure having as great strength as it would have were the stack turned out by the factory as a single unitary structure.

Having thus described my invention in terms which .Will be readily understood by others skilled in the art to which it pertains,

'what I believe to be new and desire to sespace the sides of the drawer from the sides of the filingcase, and a pair of verticall positioned channel iron members com etely surrounding said filing case, said 0 annel iron members having their outer ed es flush with the front and rear edges of t e filing case.

2. A filing case, comprising an enclosing body having u standing drawer supporting runners in its bottom and having inwardly extending longitudinal beads in; its sides for centering a drawer in the body, and a pair of channel iron members encircling the enclosing body and disposed flush with the front and rear ends of the same.

3. A filing case, comprising a plurality of superposed enclosing bodies open at one end to receive drawers therein, front and rear channel frames individually encirclin the enclosing'bodies and carried thereby in identical relative positions for alinement in separate rows when the bodies are mounted in superposed relation, each encircling frame havin "its channel opening outwardly and provi ed in the inner wall of the channel at the sides of each frame with openings definitely and correspondingly spaced from the corners of the frames, connectors seated in the channels at the sides of the frames and bridging the abutting cross channels of the frames and provided with inturned lugs seating in said openings of the adjacent frames for lockingthe same together, and cross members extending through said abuttin cross channels and secured in the interme iate portions of said connectors for binding the same in position.

4. A filing case, comprising a plurality of superposed enclosing sections open at one en to receive drawers therein, a base section supporting said first sections, channel members disposed in register upon the sides and adjacent tops and bottoms of all of said sections, detachable connectors seated in the channel members at the sides of the sections and bridging adjacent sections, and clamping rods extending in the channel members between the sections-and detachably and adjustably connected to the connectors for binding the same in their channel members.

5. A filing ease, comprising a plurality of adjacent enclosing units, detachable connectors engaging the opposite sides of said units and overlapping the same, and clamping devices adjustably carried upon the intermediate portions of said connectors and 8X- tending between the adjacent units for adjustment to bind the connectors against the units. and secure the same together.

- 6. A filing case comprisinga plurality of units, reinforcing webs surrounding each of said filing units at their front and rear ends, said reinforcing webs provided in their ver tical portions with socketsv equidistantly positioned from the upper and lower edges of said filing units, connectors overlapping adto positively connect said filing units, and

means for independently interconnecting the front and rear pairs of connectors.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

SAMUEL o. HUFFMAN. 

